Caged Heart
by Tarma Hartley
Summary: A NaruMitsu Fairy Tale. Miles Edgeworth is an Emperor who's heart is encased in ice. Phoenix Wright is the mythological bird who comes to free him from his prison and open to him the wonders, and burning pain, of love...


_A/N: I do not own Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix Wright, Gregory Edgeworth or Manfred von Karma; they belong to CAPCOM. The plot, however, is mine. :)_

 _Thumbnail artwork is by nimpnawakproduction-from a livestream she did that I attended; I requested Emperor Miles-and is used with permission. Thanks! :)_

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 _A NaruMitsu Fairy Tale. Miles Edgeworth is an Emperor who's heart is encased in ice. Phoenix Wright is the mythological bird who comes to free him from his prison and open to him the wonders, and burning pain, of love..._

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Written for two very dear friends of mine, StudioKawaii! Hope you enjoy, dears! 3

A little different in terms of my usual writing style but I like to shake things up once in awhile! It was fun to write, just the same! :)

Enjoy! :)

 **Thanks** to my readers and all those who have favourited, reviewed, story alerted, favourite author or author alerted me. I appreciate it more than I can say! :)

 **Special Thanks** to Nim and Wilson from Tumblr for their comments and critiques; to my AMAZING beta, Pearls1990, for her skills-and for the title and to kenzyshipseverything and PhoenixFlame53, as well! Much appreciated! :)

 **EXTRA Special thanks** to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, for all his help, support, advice, the title, nagging (when necessary) and encouragement! I appreciate it more than I can say! Love you!

I'd also like to welcome Nim as my second beta reader! :) When I first started writing, I had two beta readers and I liked that because having two other pairs of eyes brought out things that I'd missed and gave a more round picture to the fic as a result. :) I'm _very_ happy to have a second! **WELCOME**! :)

Comments are appreciated and constructive criticism is welcomed. I will probably change some things at some point; always room for improvement!

Rated Teen, male/male relationships, Romance/Drama, Phoenix x Edgeworth, Fairy Tale AU, Alternate Universe

The quote used below comes from _On Love_ from _The Prophet_ by Kahlil Gibran. It's my favourite of the book.

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 _When love beckons to you, follow him,_  
 _Though his ways are hard and steep._  
 _And when his wings enfold you yield to him,_  
 _Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you._  
 _And when he speaks to you believe in him,_  
 _Though his voice may shatter your dreams_  
 _as the north wind lays waste the garden._

- **Kahlil Gibran,** _The Prophet_

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There was once long, long ago and far away an Emperor with a heart encased in ice. He was as beautiful as a sculpture, with his dark grey hair, sharp bangs that surrounded his handsome face, cupid bow mouth and dark grey eyes that looked out on the world. Cold, distant and remote, he was the ruler of his land and had been for many years. Others thought of him as being a marble statue made of stone and with a heart of ice, untouchable, unfeeling and without emotions.

Whispers among the courtiers said a woman had broken his heart, and this was the reason why he closed himself off. There were those who dimly remembered him as he had been before this, but that seemed so far and so remote in time that most people didn't believe that he was behaving differently when he was younger.

However, this was not entirely true: he _did_ have a heart but it ached with longing and loneliness, shattered a long time ago, not by a woman but by a man that he had once deeply respected and loved.

After the old Emperor, his father, died, one of the wisest men of the castle was put in charge. He had taken him under his wing and the young prince believed that he loved him like a son. How could he have known the terrible truth? His mentor hated him from the very beginning and plotted against him in order to destroy him.

After that, the new Emperor kept himself apart from others, not because he didn't like them but because he couldn't bring himself to open up to them. How could one feel when someone you loved and trusted proved that, not only did he never love him, but had actively worked with his enemies in order to destroy him? How could one's heart deal with such a betrayal? It was after this that the kind, gentle boy he'd once been turned cold and remote almost as if overnight.

The time of that betrayal still seared him, even after all these years. It was still torturing him in the darkest hours before dawn and haunting him during his waking hours. He had built the ice wall around his broken heart and nothing had succeeded to melt it from that time on. He lived a lonely life, longing to reach out to people but too afraid to do so for fear that he would be hurt again.

It went on this way for many years: he kept himself apart from his people and never found any pleasure even in the simplest joys of life. He had riches and possessions, every material thing that could possibly be had but neither made him truly happy. He wandered about the halls of his palace like a ghost; he was alive but not really living and he didn't know how unhappy he truly was since he had long ago turned off his feelings.

This state of affairs lasted for many years. With each passing year he grew more and more remote and cold; even his friends stopped coming around to visit him after awhile. He walked the lonely halls of his palace, longing for some human companionship but too afraid to let anyone in for fear that they would hurt him. He whiled away many a lonely hour playing music on his lyre in the empty solar, the gloom surrounding him almost suffocating.

One cold, winter's day while he was sitting on the couch in his solar playing his lyre, he thought he heard a soft pecking noise coming from the window. He narrowed his eyes and stopped for a moment, listening hard. Silence. He listened for a little while longer and, when he didn't hear sound save for the howling winds and swirling snow against the window pane, he shrugged and started to play again.

He stopped again after a few minutes when he again thought he heard the soft pecking noise coming from the window, listening hard in the deafening silence only penetrated by the howling winds and swirling snow outside. He was quite perplexed. Where was this nonexistent sound coming from?

Three times it happened and three times he stopped playing to listen. He was getting quite annoyed with the constant interruptions and finding out that there didn't seem to be anything there except the storm howling outside.

He had just started to move his fingers over the strings when he heard the sound once again. With an irritated snarl, he tossed his instrument onto the floor and stalked over to the window, throwing it open with much more force than was necessary.

"Who's there?" he growled angrily, narrowing his grey eyes and staring out into the teeth of the storm, shading his eyes from the blinding snow. "Show yourself! I _know_ you're out there!"

Silence.

He gritted his teeth and was about to turn away from the window when he heard the soft, pecking sound again only this time it was louder and seemed to be coming from the windowsill itself. He bent over to take a look and his eyes widened with surprise at what he saw there: a beautifully plumaged bird, lying on its side and panting with exhaustion, its eyes closed.

 _Poor little foolish thing_ , he thought, feeling a momentary surge of compassion that surprised him. _What on earth are you doing out here on a night like this?_

For one moment, he was tempted to harden his heart and slam the window shut but he couldn't leave the poor little thing out there in this storm. Besides, it's feathers were every color of the rainbow and he was dazzled by their brilliant, jewel-tones that seemed to light up the sill with a warm, soft glow; it reminded him of the hearth fire in his old home before his father died. He felt a prick at the corner of his eyes but he ruthlessly pushed it as far down inside as he could, waiting until the feeling had passed.

As much as he wished to, he _couldn't_ leave that little bird out here to die alone and he reached out, gathering it as gently as he could into his hand. He turned, closing the window behind him and walked over to the vanity, laying the bird on it.

It lay still, with barely enough strength to breathe but it opened its eyes and he was dazzled by the brilliant blue that stared back at him. He sucked in his breath, drowning in those deep blue eyes, his heart hammering in his chest. while he hurried into the next room.

He hunted around until he found a small wooden box and a piece of black velvet cloth which would serve as both lining and blanket; he ran back into the solar and over to where the bird still lay, breathing hard, its sides heaving. Ignoring the voice in his mind telling him not to feel, he gathered the bird tenderly in his hands and put it into the box, covering it with the cloth that lined the bottom, overlapping over the sides.

"You poor, little silly thing," he said aloud in a chiding tone, gently stroking the little creature's crest feathers with his index finger. "What on earth are you doing out on a night like this? What could have possessed you to try to fly in this storm?"

Silence greeted his query and he chuckled to himself, feeling very foolish for asking such a thing out loud to a bird he but got the shock of his life when a melodic trill emerged from the bird's closed beak. It seemed to fill the room with its piercing sweetness and he couldn't repress the small gasp that escaped his lips.

He closed his eyes for a few moments and, when he opened them, he saw the bird looking at him once more with those brilliant blue eyes and he started at the warmth he saw reflected in those depthless pools.

"Wha-?" he started to say but was again interrupted by that sweet trill emanating from the bird's closed beak. His heart started to pound in his chest and he had to fling himself away; the emotions that he could feel rising within frightened him as he had not allowed himself to acknowledge them for many years.

He did his best to push them down and, when that didn't work, he ignored them until they went away. The effort left him sweating but he could hear that melodious trilling coming from the bird in the box and, for some reason that he couldn't explain, it comforted him... something that he _hadn't_ felt in a _very_ long time.

He closed his eyes and let the sweet notes flow over him and he felt a stirring deep within at the bird's mysterious music.

As time went on, and the Emperor attended to his unexpected charge, the bird regained its health, its sweet song becoming ever stronger and powerful. It filled the empty palace with its joyous song, slowly driving away the gloom that had settled over it for so long. In the meantime, the Emperor's ice wall had begun to melt though he tried to stop it.

There was something else that had troubled him over the six months that had passed since the bird's arrival and that was the strange, recurring dream he had every night after he retired for the evening. It was always the same: _He dreamed that he was walking in his garden and a beautiful young man, dressed in a blue suit, appeared and walked with him. He had spiky hair the color of velvety black and piercing blue eyes that lit up his face when he talked and a light, cheerful air about him. Despite himself, the Emperor couldn't help but feel drawn to him even as he tried to pull away from him._

 _The Emperor hadn't appreciated his mysterious companion's presence at first and tried in every way he could think of to rid himself of the interloper but the young man only smiled and refused to leave him. In time, the Emperor stopped trying to chase him away and grudgingly accepted his presence._

 _It was astonishing; the young man seemed to know what he felt even before he did and gave him his space whenever he felt the need to be alone._

 _Over time, he discovered, to his surprise, that his desire to isolate himself was slowly decreasing and he began to actively seek the young man's company. He also found that he was starting to feel something much stronger toward this beautiful man in blue that made his heart ring with a joyful song he hadn't allowed himself to feel for years._

He'd woken from the dream, his heart pounding wildly as he slowly became aware of a presence next to him. He looked and saw, to his great surprise, the little bird curled up by his side, trilling sweet notes that spoke of the wonders of love.

He stared at his tiny companion. How on earth had the little creature managed to crawl into bed with him without him noticing? His first thought was to shoo it away but decided against it after a few moments. It seemed like a cruel thing to do to the little bird. Perhaps, he thought, it was cold and the velvet cloth didn't provide it with enough warmth so it had sought out his bed in order to snuggle with him.

He couldn't help but smile as he tenderly stroked the little bird's beautifully colored feathers and was rewarded by the tiny creature's sweetly enticing song.

Years passed and still the little bird resided with the Emperor; it sang to him every morning upon waking and every night before he retired to bed. The ice wall that he had built within himself was continuing to melt and he couldn't help but feel happy for the first time in a _very_ long time. His people marveled at his transformation, wondering what it had been that prompted the change but grateful that it had, nonetheless.

He looked at his little companion with affection, feeling a stirring in his heart and wondering where it would eventually lead. He had, much to his embarrassment, fallen in love with the raven haired, blue eyed man in his dreams some time before. He couldn't help but wonder when this had happened but it had; it was confusing, certainly, because his heart was yearning for this young man with no hope of it ever coming to fruition.

He began to notice that his dreams, over time, had also changed. He was beginning to open himself up to the young man but then he started pulling away and, when he did, the young man's easy smile had turned to sadness. He also said something, just before he awoke, that the Emperor thought rather odd: " _Free me. I will not be free until your heart is warm and beating again._ "

When he awoke from these dreams, he found that he was falling ever deeper in love with the young man but he also found it increasingly difficult to open himself up to him. This caused both he and the young man no end of distress and the young man's strange words, " _Free me. I will not be free until your heart is warm and beating again_ " became ever more desperate; he threw himself down on his knees in front of him, begging the Emperor with tears in his eyes to free him.

This depressed him for his heart was in pain with longing and it hurt him, deeply. In the midst of his suffering, he noticed that his little companion's song _also_ changed: its sweet trilling had been replaced by sad, melancholic notes and the shadows had come rushing back.

Night after night, the same terrible dream plagued him: _The young man begged him to free him and the Emperor kept pulling away although his heart cried out in agony when he did. The young man's light, cheery air had also changed and had been replaced by sorrow that tore at the Emperor. He'd raced to comfort his beloved companion and was surprised when the young man suddenly took his face in his hands, pressing his mouth hard against his._

 _The Emperor's heart pounded double time in his chest and he'd torn himself unwillingly from the embrace, crying out in fear as he teetered backward, pressing a shaky hand over his mouth. His lips burned from the young man's kiss but his heart ached again with that strange, unsettling longing even as he ran from him. He also noticed his companion's sad eyes and melancholic air before he'd turned and fled, tears coursing down his cheeks like rain as he watched his flight..._

He'd awoken in the early morning darkness, crying out in agonizing pain, tears running freely down his cheeks as he sat bolt upright in bed, shaky fingers wiping tears from his face. He drew in great, gasping breaths as he struggled to calm himself. He suddenly thought of the comfort his little bird gave him and he quickly reached out to touch it... only to discover, to his horror, that it wasn't there.

His head whipped down and his eyes widened when he discovered that the place the little bird slept was empty. A moan of loss escaped his lips as he frantically searched the room for the little bird but came up with nothing. He searched every nook and cranny of the palace for any sign of his treasured companion but again came up empty.

He cried aloud in pain as he staggered from one room to another, searching for his beloved bird but, time and again, coming up empty. In despair, he stumbled into the solar and threw himself on the couch and wept bitter tears, his heart in turmoil.

This was where he had found the little bird all those years ago and his heart ached as he looked toward the window, wishing with all of his heart that he could find his little companion who had so cheered his heart and enabled him to attempt to break free from the icy prison he'd been in for so many years. He remembered the sweet, beautiful song the little bird had sung and how it had heralded a new beginning of healing in his life from the wounds of his past.

Now, at long, long last, the icy wall had finally crumbled and love swept through him like a tidal wave, the feeling all but encompassing him in a dizzying array of color and sounds.

The Emperor closed his eyes, a soft sob rising from his throat and emerging from tightly pressed lips, as he released the sorrow he felt inside and it found free expression. He wept until his eyes were sore and still the tears kept coming.

 _Where was all this coming from?!_ Fresh tears fell down his cheeks and he put his face into his hands. _I have every material possession I could possibly want but yet I have nothing! I feel so empty inside!_ Loud, raucous sobs were torn from deep within him. _That little bird means the world to me and I would gladly give everything I have if only to see my beloved companion again!  
_  
He was weeping so hard that he didn't notice another presence in the room at first and started when he became aware of a hand touching him gently on the shoulder. His head jerked upwards to see... a beautiful young man with spiky raven black hair with piercing blue eyes and dressed in a blue suit looking tenderly down at him, a soft smile on his face.

His surprise was so total and complete that he stopped crying and stared stupidly at the young man from his dreams, who had captured his heart some years before, standing there beside him.

"Who...?" The Emperor's tongue felt thick as he reached out with shaking fingers toward the young man who stood beside him, his heart beating madly in his chest. "Who..." He licked his suddenly dry lips. "Who...are... _you_?"

There was something oddly … _familiar_... about him and it _wasn't_ only because of the dream. There was _something_ else that called out to him and he noticed, to his great astonishment, that his heart yearned for him.

The young man smiled at him but didn't answer as he leaned down, taking the Emperor's hand in his own and pressing his mouth against his in a tender kiss. The Emperor was startled by the bold move but, unlike in his dream, he didn't pull away or flee. He deepened the kiss instead, welcoming it and the young man who had captured, and held, his heart, such as it was.

With this, the last remnants of the icy wall he'd built around his heart at last gave way and love entered in in all its splendid, burning glory that seared him like the rays of a new born sun. When they parted, he also noticed that the young man had beautiful, multi-colored wings of brilliant color fluttering from his back and at last the meaning became clear: his little companion _hadn't_ been lost; he was right here with him all the time. And he always would be.

He looked at the young man again and smiled, his heart feeling lighter than it had in years.

"I...I..." He cursed himself for stumbling over his words but he tried again and again to tell him how he felt. The young man stood there in silence, his smile encouraging him to express what he was feeling in his heart.

The Emperor felt that everything depended on him and he tried, again and again, to express what he was feeling but he was having quite a difficult time doing it. The young man didn't say a word but his brilliant smile spoke volumes and he merely nodded in encouragement as the Emperor continued his struggle.

"I...I...l...love...you..." he finally stuttered out and the dam broke, true love washing over him like a healing balm.

The young man smiled as he sat next to the Emperor, still holding his hand and leaned over to kiss him again. The Emperor closed his eyes and sank into the embrace, his arms wrapping around his beloved and holding him close. He never wanted to let him go but wanted him to stay with him forever.

 **:I will,:** he heard a voice murmur in his mind and he started for a moment to see those beguiling blue eyes looking at him, marveling at the deep love for him that he saw reflected in those depthless pools . : **I will never leave you as long as breath remains in my body and I will love you for eternity.:**

He nuzzled the side of the Emperor's head tenderly, the smile spreading over his face so dazzling that it left the Emperor amazed at its brilliance.

"I love you, too," the young man whispered, a sweet, seraphic smile on his lips as he leaned in again for another kiss.

Once they had parted, the emperor whispered, holding his beloved close to him, "Promise me you won't ever leave me. I want you with me always."

"I promise," the young man replied. "I'll _never_ leave you... _Ever_." He looked at the Emperor, the fingers of his free hand slowly caressing his cheek. "And a Phoenix _always_ keeps his promises."

"Is that your name?" the Emperor asked. It was... _suitable_ , somehow.

The young man shook his head.

"I have no name," he admitted somewhat ruefully. "But you can call me what name you wish." He smiled again, kissing his cheek. "It would please me for you to choose my name, my beloved one."

"All right." The Emperor thought a moment. "I'll call you ' _Phoenix_.'" He grinned wryly and the Phoenix chuckled. "It suits you and I don't _eve_ r want to forget my beloved little bird who taught me how to love." He stopped speaking and blushed.

The Phoenix looked at him with love and the Emperor sucked in his breath.

"Very well," he replied. "My name is Phoenix." He titled his head slightly to the right. "What shall I call you? What is your name?"

The Emperor blushed.

"It's... _Miles_..." he murmured shyly, his cheeks burning red.

" _Miles_..." Phoenix said his name over and over with relish. "A beautiful name it is, indeed."

He smiled at the Emperor once again, his stomach fluttering with indescribable joy as Phoenix took him in his arms and Miles melted into his beloved's welcoming arms and loving kiss.

 **~FIN~**


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